Visa primes dotMobi for contactless m-payments

Visa International has invested a seven-figure sum in dotMobi, the industry group behind the mobile domain name.

Although the exact size of the investment has not been disclosed, it has secured Visa a seat on dotMobi's board of directors.

dotMobi, launched last September, is responsible for the distribution of the dot-mobi top-level domain name. More than 450,000 domains have already been registered by companies and individuals, including the BBC and News International. dotMobi requires domain name owners to run sites that are optimised for viewing the internet over mobile devices in order to qualify for a domain.

Under the deal, Visa will help dotMobi develop a number of mobile payment capabilities, including contactless mobile payment, vouchers and direct marketing.

Speaking on the state of wireless payments, at the CTIA Wireless conference in Florida, Visa USA CEO John Philip Coghlan said in a statement: "Given the striking similarities in the paths our two industries have travelled, it is only natural we have arrived at a moment of convergence. In fact the convergence of payments and mobile communications is not just logical, it's inevitable."

Visa also announced a deal with VeriSign at the conference. The online security specialist has pledged to support the recently announced Visa Mobile platform.